Claimed by the Enforcer: A Venturi Mafia Spin-off novel, page 19
A shadow crossed Luca's face and he moved to perch on the edge of my hospital bed.
I knew what he was going to say before he said it. My heart ached and I felt hollow inside. Tears came to my eyes, and I tried to blink them away. I shook my head violently from side to side. It made the dizziness and pain from the concussion worse, but I didn't care. No pain could come close to the pain I felt as my heart shattered.
"No," I choked out as my throat tightened and tears ran down my cheeks. "No. Luca, don’t say it. It can’t—tell me my baby isn't gone." My voice cracked as I barely choked out the desperate plea.
He didn’t have to say a word. Deep down, I already knew. Luca wrapped his arms around me and held me as sobs wrecked my entire body. I shook violently, only being steadied and anchored by his grip on me.
I cried and cried until I had no more tears and still Luca held me, letting me just be in the silence, soaking in his warmth and strength.
Suddenly, the quiet was broken by the door being thrown open wildly and I jumped as both of us turned toward the sound.
Luca leaped to his feet as Stefano stormed in, charging toward the bed with rage in his eyes.
"Stefano," I said in complete surprise.
"You," he seethed, wagging his disapproving finger at me. "You did this. You killed my child."
"What?" I was so shocked by his words that my brain couldn't even keep up. "We were in a wreck—"
"It's all your fault. You stupid, reckless, bi—" Stefano lifted his hand and while I would have usually moved to defend myself, the part of my brain in charge at the moment just wanted to curl into a ball and disappear.
I flinched but before his hand struck, Luca wrenched Stefano's hand behind his back and slammed him against the wall beside my bed.
He kept his voice low and calm but there was something eerie about the restrained fury behind his words. "You don't fucking touch her. And you don't talk to her like that either." I'd never heard his voice so lethal before and I found myself holding my breath.
"Let go of me. She is my wife and I'll do with her as I please." Stefano struggled to free himself, but it was no use. I wasn’t sure which was less relenting, the wall or Luca’s grip.
"Not anymore you don't. Not as long as she's got me by her side and I got news for you, I'm going to be by her side until she tells me otherwise."
Luca wrenched Stefano's arm a little farther and he hissed in pain.
"Now, you are going to leave this hospital and never contact her again. This farce of a marriage is over. Mira is coming home. Do I make myself clear?"
Stefano hesitated, casting me an evil glare and Luca yanked up on his arm, straining his shoulder to an unnatural angle.
"Last chance or they will be doing reconstructive surgery on your shoulder just to help you keep some use of it."
"Okay, okay. Fine. She's a useless bitch anyway. You can have her."
Luca released Stefano's arm. He rolled his shoulders stiffly, wincing a bit before Luca punched him square in the jaw.
"Now, get out."
Once he steadied his footing, Stefano spat blood on the floor in my direction and stormed out of the room. I stared, dumbfounded, at where he had been standing.
"The nerve of that guy," Luca started, turning to me before rushing to my side. "Mira? Are you okay?"
"He's right." My voice came out void of all emotion.
"What?"
"He's right." My voice wavered. "It's my fault that my baby is dead."
And with those words, my heart fully shattered. I sobbed so hard that I thought I might die. I cried out in anguish as pure agony overtook me.
Chapter 28
Luca
I drove to the Venturi compound to see Mira as I had every day for the three months since her return from Sicily. Getting past losing a child was more than I could imagine and yet, Mira had made great strides from the woman curled up in bed, crying, like she had for the first month.
At first, I’d worried that she would never be the same again. That losing her baby would be the thing to break her completely but each day, I’d witnessed her gradual improvement. I was particularly excited to spend the day with her because we had plans for me to take her to the Venturi office complex where she would be opening her own law practice.
None of the particulars had been planned yet and the office building was little more than white walls and a few abandoned pieces of office furniture, but we would have it up and running in no time.
Teo had wanted to set up the whole office for Mira as a surprise to help encourage her, but I thought that it would be better to see what design she had in mind and let her put her own stamp on the space.
It would be good for her to keep busy sooner rather than later. She’d been so heartbroken from the accident that I wanted to do anything and everything I could to take her mind off of it.
I pulled up at the house and climbed out of my car but just before I knocked on the door, Mia opened it and stepped outside, looking slightly suspicious.
“Mia, what are you doing?” I stepped back from the door to give her room on the stoop.
“We need to talk.”
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“Mira wants to back out of your plans today.”
“Why?”
“She’s having trouble leaving. She said that she could just set up an office in the house, but I told her there was no room for another office at home. I could tell she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t bother to ask questions about it.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“You have to convince her to leave the house. She hasn’t been off of the family property since the day she came home.”
“Really? I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“Please, Luca? I don’t know what else I can say to convince her that she needs to get out and see something besides the walls of this compound.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
I walked upstairs to Mira’s room and quietly knocked on the door but as I did, it pushed open, and I saw Mira sitting on her bed with her head in her hands.
“Mira?” I kept my voice soft, just loud enough for her to hear. “Are you okay?”
She startled, quickly swiping away the tears from her face as she turned toward me. “Luca, ciao. Are you early?”
“Just a little. Mia says you don't want to go?”
“I just...I’m not ready for this.”
“Sure, you are. You are more than ready. We’ve talked about all your plans and all your hopes for your new business. You said you were going to stand up for the people who need it the most, the ones who might not be able to afford good legal representation. You said that you were going to use the fact that you don’t need the money to drive you to help others. Do you really want to let all those people down?”
“No, but...how can I go on with my life like nothing happened? I lost my child.”
I moved to sit beside her on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in mine. “And you’ve mourned for that child.”
“I know but...” Mira let her words die in her mouth.
“But what?”
“If I move on with things this quickly then it feels like I’m abandoning her, like her life and death meant nothing to me.”
“But you know that’s not true, I know that’s not true. You’ve mourned, but you can’t mourn forever. You have to let yourself live your life.
“A part of me never fully felt attached or connected with her. I knew I was pregnant and that I was going to have a baby. You have to know that I loved her from the first moment that second little line turned pink, but I constantly felt like I was keeping a wall up, not wanting to get too attached.”
“Why do you think that you would want to keep yourself from getting too attached to your baby?” I had my own suspicions, but I wanted Mira to come to her own conclusion without my influence.
“I don’t know. I guess maybe it has something to do with how Stefano acted about her, like our baby was a possession, something to hold over my head to control me, something to give him more prestige and power by having an heir. He never talked about her like she was a baby, our child. I think a part of me feared that someday, after I had her, that he was going to take her away from me.
“He actually made the threat. He said if I left him that he would take her and make sure that I never saw her again. That was before we knew that she was a girl. He was convinced that it was a boy, but somewhere deep inside I knew that he was wrong.”
“Well, I think your daughter would be extremely proud to have a mom so dedicated to helping others. And maybe she’s not gone forever.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, maybe this just wasn’t the right time for that little girl of yours to come into this world, with a father like Stefano and her mother being crushed under his thumb. That can’t be the best situation for a child to grow up in. Maybe this is just a delay, and maybe one day when you meet the right man who will not only be a good father for your daughter, but also a great husband for her mother, maybe then God will send her back to you.”
“Luca, that’s beautiful.”
I squirmed uncomfortably, not used to being so open with emotions, but I was glad to see the small smile forming on Mira’s face. “Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone, okay? I’ve got a reputation to protect.”
I playfully bumped her with my shoulder and Mira giggled. “It will be our little secret.”
Chapter 29
Mira
Four months had gone by since I’d lost my daughter and while the pain and emptiness were still there, I found that pouring myself into starting my law firm was a good way to keep my mind busy. And with Luca’s help, and the help of my family, I found myself growing stronger every day.
I sat in my newly decorated office behind my large glass desk, working to set up our filing system and other small details that Luca and Teo had insisted were beneath me. While I could have just hired someone to do those small tasks, it felt good to put my own touch in each aspect of the business.
I was so engrossed in my work that I didn’t notice someone coming into my office until the large figure was halfway to my desk and I jumped.
“Stefano, what are you doing here?”
He acted as if he hadn’t heard my question. He meandered through my office, taking inventory of his surroundings as one might wander through a museum. “It’s a nice place you have here.”
“Thank you,” I said hesitantly, not expecting him to show any sign of civility.
He stopped once he reached my desk and stood for a moment just looking around. I grew impatient waiting for the reason for his visit, so I cleared my throat and closed my laptop. “What are you doing here, Stefano?”
“I’ve come to retrieve what’s mine?” His voice was so nonchalant that I wrecked my mind, trying to think of what I could possibly have that he would view as his.
“You mean the rings? They’re at the compound. I’ll have to get them to you later.” The rings were beautiful, but I had no desire to keep a reminder of our time together.
“Not the rings.”
“Then I’m sorry,” I said with a huff as my irritation and impatience grew. “I don’t know what it is I have of yours.”
Stefano looked annoyed and stepped forward until he hovered over my desk. He slapped his hands down on the table, making me jump as he leaned in close. “I’m here to retrieve my wife.”
I laughed. I hadn’t meant to. It was an involuntary response to the preposterousness of Stefano still thinking that I was going to stay married to him. No matter my intent, he looked angry.
“This has gone on long enough, Mira. I understand that you had to mourn the loss of our baby in your own way, and I’ve allowed you to stay here with your family but it’s time that you come home with me now.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, unless it’s to sign divorce papers.”
“Excuse me?” There was a threatening tone to his voice, and I gripped the edge of my desk while struggling to keep my voice even.
“I have no interest in remaining your wife and you can’t honestly think what we have is real or even healthy.”
“What we have is a lifelong commitment and vows to uphold. Now let's go. In your haste, you left enough of your clothes in Sicily. We can have your family send the rest of your things later.”
He reached over the desk and grabbed my arm, hauling me up from my seat and practically dragging me around to his side. “Stefano, let go—"
“Take your fucking hands off of her,” Luca growled, and both Stefano and I looked his way.
“This is none of your concern.”
“Mira is my concern.” Luca made it to us in a flash, startling Stefano enough that he dropped my arm.
“Mira is my wife.”
“Not anymore.”
“I have the paperwork to prove it.”
“Papers?” Luca scoffed “That’s how you prove that she’s yours? She’s not some piece of property you can just show the receipt to prove you own it. If Mira doesn’t want to be with you anymore, she doesn't have to be with you anymore.”
“What she wants is irrelevant. I’m taking her home, and I’m taking her now.” Stefano pulled me quickly in front of him. Just as quickly, he pulled a pistol from his waistband and pointed it at Luca.
Luca froze. “Don’t be stupid, put the gun down.”
Luca’s hand twitched at his side near where he always kept his own gun, but Stefano was too quick, moving the gun from Luca to my temple. “Don’t even think about it or I will shoot her before you could get a round off.”
Luca held up his hands, trying to seem less threatening. “Whoa, you don’t want to do that. Think about it. If you shoot her, you won’t be able to have her either.”
“That’s okay, better to be a widow than to have some other man steal my woman.”
“I’m not coming any closer. You don’t have to shoot her. You can let her go.”
“I’m not letting her go. She’s my wife. She’s coming with me.”
“I can’t let you do that.” Luca said, side stepping a little closer.
“Don’t,” Stefano barked, pressing the muzzle harder to my temple.
“Stefano, please? You’re hurting me.” I tried a different tactic.
“You’re coming with me.”
“You can’t force her to go with you. You can’t force her to stay and be your wife.”
“Luca,” I warned.
“Oh, sure I can. It’s clear she has a thing for you, and while I can’t attest to my wife’s bad taste, I can easily use it to my advantage. Leave with me now, or I shoot him right in front of you and let you watch as he bleeds out.”
“No, please. I’ll go with you.” I cast Luca a pleading glance, begging him not to do anything stupid to get himself killed.
“I knew that you'd see it my way eventually. A good wife always does. Now,” he changed his attention to Luca. “Move out of the way of the door, or I’ll shoot her.”
Luca looked at me hesitantly, glancing at the gun pointed at my head, and side stepped out of the way of our escape.
Stefano backed out of the office, careful never to turn his back on Luca as we stepped out into the lobby.
As soon as we cleared the door there was a distinctive click sound from behind us. Stefano tensed, making a move to turn toward the noise when Teo's low, threatening voice made me sag with relief.
"Don't move. Let Mira go, and I won't put a bullet in your brain."
Luca came from the office, his gun pointed in Stefano’s direction. He was surrounded.
Stefano begrudgingly released me, and I ran to Luca’s waiting arms. But our embrace was short as Luca pushed me behind him until Teo’s men had disarmed Stefano.
Luca put his gun away and whirled around to face me, holding me at arm’s length by the shoulders to look me over. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm good, really."
Luca let out a relieved sigh, crushed me to his chest, and I wrapped my arms around his waist pulling myself to him. I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, just relieved to be in each other's arms but we jumped apart at the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat nearby.
Teo stood there with a knowing smirk. “Luca,” he sounded serious. “Is there something you want to ask me?”
